Carrie Cunningham has always been a performer, even as a child. “My first solo performance was in eighth grade in choir. I was so nervous I took off my glasses so I couldn’t see the audience. I have been singing for as long as I can remember. To think that not everyone can do this, and many people wish they could, feels good to know that I am blessed.”
Name: Carrie Cunningham
Residence city/neighborhood: Lakeshore
Employer: Self-employed performing songwriter (www.carrielive.com)
Educational/professional background: Associate in fine arts from Spokane Falls Community College. Classically trained during that time. Audio production degree from the Art Institute of Seattle, specializing in live sound.
How you got started in your career/business: Well, there are two sides of me: the performer and the writer. Both are very important, and both are considered separate jobs. I started performing in music competitions and joining bands after going through choir throughout my middle school to college years. During college, I took private voice lessons and I became classically trained while studying jazz as well. During this time, I won the national competition for the 100th anniversary of the Eagles Auxiliary. I also sang with the Spokane Symphony Chorale for five years. In the late ’90s, I started writing my own music and formed a duo. From there, I started studying what was on the market, how songs were formed, etc. I started traveling to Nashville to network and get the lay of the land, so to speak. I moved to Vancouver in 2006, after I had signed with an independent label, Divulge Records, based out of Idaho and New York.
I started my own band in 2007 and we play all over the region for fairs, festivals, concert series, rodeos, and private and corporate events, and open up for national acts. I am the front woman, manager, in charge of the music selection, booking the shows, marketing, social media, how we look and the accounting. It is rewarding and exhausting all at the same time. If I am not focused on the band, I am focused on writing and pitching my songs. I get my originals in front of Nashville people and hope they like the song enough to want to take it to everyone else who makes the decisions before it goes on the next Keith Urban or Carrie Underwood CD.
Personal/business philosophy: Never let anyone tell you that you can’t do it. If there is a will, there is a way.
Most rewarding part of job: When a fan emails me or tells me at a show how I have touched their life through my music. It seems as though just when I start to get frustrated and down, I get an email that smacks the negativity out the window.
Your favorite type of venue: Concert series. I can be a true performing songwriter. I can tell my story of how or why I wrote a song and it’s fun playing some covers and blending my originals in with them.
Most challenging part of job: The long hours. I am up at 7 a.m. to get the kids out the door and I go down around 2 a.m. It’s nonstop. I have to force myself to take a break, but I feel guilty.
Something surprising about your work: It is extremely rewarding, yet hard as well. We don’t just go into a garage and start jamming and then perform. Multiple rehearsals revolve around getting parts right, harmonies perfect and stage performance. Then you tack on the above-mentioned.
Best feature of my Vancouver/Clark County community: I really like living in Vancouver because I am close to the great outdoors and the community size is just right.
What would make your community a better place: If everyone volunteered in something. If we all were held accountable for making Vancouver the best it could be.
Favorite restaurant/pub/coffee shop/store: Planet Thai, Sakura Japanese Restaurant and the new library. That place is amazing.
Hobbies: Most people think music is a hobby, but my downtime is spent with my husband and children. Soccer is big in my family. So is going to the beach and just being together. I used to volunteer with the Lunch Buddies program at Eisenhower Elementary and I was also a CASA,(Court Appointed Special Advocate) until I had to slow down on my commitments
Favorite travel destination: Since I travel so much, that’s a hard one. I get withdrawals when I have to step on the plane to leave Nashville, but I want to lie in the sun and listen to the birds sing and the wind blow in the Midwest. Oh, but every time I see the Seattle skyline, I get giddy. See what I mean?
Most enjoyable book/play/movie/arts event in past 12 months: Herbie Hancock about six months ago— still leaves me talking. It was beyond mind-blowing.
Something you’d like to do this year/within five years: Accept an award on the Country Music Awards as a performer or a writer.
One word to describe yourself: Determined
Person you’d most like to meet: T Bone Burnett
